JP7513708B2 - Aerosol delivery systems and methods - Google Patents

Description

[Background of the disclosure]
[Field]
The present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery systems and methods.

Description of the Prior Art

The "Background" discussion provided herein is intended to provide a general overview of the context of the present disclosure. The work of the inventors named herein to the extent described in this Background section, as well as aspects of the description that are not otherwise believed to be prior art at the time of filing, are not admitted, expressly or impliedly, to be prior art in this disclosure.

Electronic aerosol delivery systems, such as electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), generally include a reservoir of a liquid feedstock containing ingredients, typically including nicotine, from which an aerosol is generated, for example, by thermal vaporization. Thus, an aerosol source for an aerosol delivery system may include a heater having a heating element arranged to receive the liquid feedstock from the reservoir, for example, by wicking/capillary action. Other source materials, such as botanical matter or gels, such as active ingredients and/or flavorings, may similarly be heated to produce an aerosol. Thus, more generally, an e-cigarette may be considered to contain or accept a payload for thermal vaporization.

While the user inhales on the device, power is supplied to the heating element to vaporize an aerosol source (a portion of the payload) located near the heating element, generating an aerosol for inhalation by the user. Such devices typically include one or more air inlet holes located away from the mouth end of the system. When the user inhales on a mouthpiece connected to the mouth end of the system, air is drawn through the inlet holes and passes through the aerosol source. There is a flow path connecting between the aerosol source and the mouthpiece opening, such that air passing through the aerosol source continues to be drawn along the flow path to the mouthpiece opening, carrying a portion of the aerosol from the aerosol source. The air carrying the aerosol exits the aerosol delivery system through the mouthpiece opening for inhalation by the user.

Typically, when the user inhales/puffs on the device, electrical current is provided to the heater, e.g., a resistive heating element. Typically, electrical current is provided to the heater, e.g., a resistive heating element, in response to activation of an airflow sensor along the flow path when the user inhales/puffs/puffs, or in response to activation of a button by the user. Heat generated by the heating element is used to vaporize the formulation. The released vapor mixes with air drawn into the device by the smoking consumer to form an aerosol. Alternatively or additionally, the heating element is used to heat a plant material, such as tobacco, typically without combustion, to release its active ingredients as a vapor/aerosol.

The amount of vaporized/aerosolized payload inhaled by a user depends, at least in part, on how long and how deeply the user inhales over a period of time, as well as how frequently the user inhales. These user behaviors may be influenced by the user's mood.

Embodiments of the present disclosure aim to improve the delivery of payloads to users whose consumption may be affected by mood.

In a first aspect, a computing device is provided according to claim 1.

In another aspect, an aerosol delivery method is provided by claim 11.

Further aspects are provided by the claims.

It should be understood that both the above general summary of the disclosure and the following detailed description are illustrative of the disclosure and are not limiting.

A more complete understanding of the present disclosure and many of its attendant advantages will be readily obtained by reference to the following detailed description, which is better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an electronic aerosol/vapor delivery system (EVPS). FIG. 2 illustrates further details of the EVPS. FIG. 2 illustrates further details of the EVPS. FIG. 2 illustrates further details of the EVPS. FIG. 1 illustrates a system including an EVPS and a remote device. 1 is a flow chart of an aerosol delivery method.

Description of the embodiments

An electronic aerosol delivery system and method are disclosed. In the following description, a number of specific details are presented to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that these specific details are not necessary to practice the embodiments of the present disclosure. Conversely, specific details known to one of ordinary skill in the art are omitted where necessary for clarity of description.

As mentioned above, the present disclosure relates to aerosol delivery systems (e.g., non-combustion aerosol delivery systems) or electronic vapor delivery systems (EVPS) such as e-cigarettes. Throughout the following description, the term "e-cigarette" may be used, but this term may be used interchangeably with (electronic) aerosol/vapor delivery systems. Similarly, the terms "vapor" and "aerosol" are referred to equivalently herein.

In general, the electronic vapor/aerosol delivery system can be an electronic cigarette, also known as a vaping device or an electronic nicotine delivery system (END), although it should be noted that the presence of nicotine in the aerosolizable material is not a requirement. In some embodiments, the non-combustion aerosol delivery system is a tobacco heating system, also known as a non-combustion heating system. In some embodiments, the non-combustion aerosol delivery system is a hybrid system that uses a combination of aerosolizable materials to generate an aerosol, and one or more of these materials can be heated. Each of the aerosolizable materials may be, for example, in the form of a solid, liquid, or gel, and may or may not contain nicotine. In some embodiments, the hybrid system includes a liquid or gel aerosolizable material and a solid aerosolizable material. The solid aerosolizable material may include, for example, tobacco or a non-tobacco product. Meanwhile, in some embodiments, the non-combustion aerosol delivery system generates a vapor/aerosol from one or more such aerosolizable materials.

Typically, a non-combustion aerosol delivery system may comprise a non-combustion aerosol delivery device and an article for use with the non-combustion aerosol delivery system. However, it is contemplated that an article that itself comprises a means for providing power to an aerosol generating component may itself form a non-combustion aerosol delivery system. In one embodiment, the non-combustion aerosol delivery device may comprise a power source and a controller. The power source may be a power source or a heat generating power source. In one embodiment, the heat generating power source comprises a carbon substrate that may be energized to distribute power in the form of heat to an aerosolizable material or a heat transfer material proximate the heat generating power source. In one embodiment, a power source, such as a heat generating power source, is provided to the article to form a non-combustion aerosol delivery section. In one embodiment, an article for use with a non-combustion aerosol delivery device may comprise an aerosolizable material.

In some embodiments, the aerosol generating component is a heater capable of interacting with the aerosolizable material to release one or more volatile components from the aerosolizable material to form an aerosol. In one embodiment, the aerosol generating component is capable of generating an aerosol from the aerosolizable material without applying heat. For example, the aerosol generating component is capable of generating an aerosol from the aerosolizable material without applying heat, for example, by one or more of vibrational means, mechanical means, pressurized means, or electrostatic means.

In some embodiments, the aerosolizable material may include an active material, an aerosol-forming material, and optionally one or more functional materials. The active material may include nicotine (optionally contained in tobacco or a tobacco derivative) or one or more other non-olfactory bioactive materials. A non-olfactory bioactive material is a material that is included in the aerosolizable material to achieve a physiological response other than the sense of smell. The aerosol-forming material may include one or more of glycerin, glycerol, propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol, 1,3-butylene glycol, erythritol, meso-erythritol, ethyl vanillate, ethyl laurate, diethyl suberate, triethyl citrate, triacetin, diacetin mixture, benzyl benzoate, benzyl phenylacetate, tributyrin, lauryl acetate, lauric acid, myristic acid, and propylene carbonate. The one or more functional ingredients may include one or more of a fragrance, a carrier, a pH adjuster, a stabilizer, and/or an antioxidant.

In some embodiments, an article for use with a non-combustion aerosol delivery device may include an aerosolizable material or an area for receiving an aerosolizable material. In one embodiment, an article for use with a non-combustion aerosol delivery device may include a mouthpiece. The area for receiving an aerosolizable material may be a storage area for storing the aerosolizable material. For example, the storage area may be a reservoir. In one embodiment, the area for receiving an aerosolizable material may be separate from the aerosol-generation area or may be combined with the aerosol-generation area.

Please refer now to the drawings, in which like reference numbers refer to the same or corresponding parts throughout the several views.

1 is a schematic diagram (not to scale) of an electronic vapor/aerosol delivery system such as an e-cigarette 10 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The e-cigarette has a generally cylindrical shape extending along a longitudinal axis indicated by dashed line LA and comprises two main components: a body 20 and a cartomizer 30. The cartomizer includes an internal chamber including a reservoir of payload, e.g., a liquid including nicotine, a vaporizer (e.g., a heater), and a mouthpiece 35. It should be understood that the "nicotine" mentioned below is merely exemplary and can be replaced by any suitable active ingredient. It should be understood that the "liquid" mentioned as the payload is merely exemplary and can be replaced by any suitable payload, such as a botanical substance (e.g., tobacco that is heated rather than burned), or a gel that includes an active ingredient and/or flavoring. The reservoir can be a foam or any other structure for holding the liquid until it is needed to deliver it to the vaporizer. In the case of a liquid/flowable payload, the vaporizer is for vaporizing the liquid, and the cartomizer 30 may further include a wick or similar means for transferring a small amount of liquid from a reservoir to a vaporization location in the vaporizer or adjacent to the vaporizer. In the following, a heater is used as an example of a vaporizer. However, it should be understood that other forms of vaporizers (e.g., those that utilize ultrasound) may also be used. It should also be understood that the type of vaporizer used may also depend on the type of payload being vaporized.

The main body 20 includes a rechargeable cell or battery for powering the e-cigarette 10 and a circuit board for overall control of the e-cigarette. When the heater receives power from the battery, as controlled by the circuit board, it vaporizes the liquid, which is then inhaled by the user through the mouthpiece 35. In some specific embodiments, the main body further includes a manual activation device 265, such as a button, switch, or touch sensor, located on the outside of the main body.

The body 20 and the cartomizer 30 can be removable from each other by separating them in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis LA, as shown in FIG. 1, but are joined together when the device 10 is in use by connections shown diagrammatically as 25A and 25B in FIG. 1 to provide mechanical and electrical connections between the body 20 and the cartomizer 30. The electrical connector 25B of the body 20 used to connect to the cartomizer 30 also serves as a socket for connecting a charging device (not shown) when the body 20 is removed from the cartomizer 30. The other end of the charging device can be plugged into a USB socket to recharge the battery in the body 20 of the e-cigarette 10. In other embodiments, a cable may be provided for direct connection between the electrical connector 25B of the body 20 and the USB socket.

The e-cigarette 10 is provided with one or more holes (not shown in FIG. 1) for air inlet. These holes connect to an air passageway through the e-cigarette 10 and leading to the mouthpiece 35. When the user draws on the mouthpiece 35, air is drawn into this air passageway through one or more air inlet holes suitably located on the exterior of the e-cigarette. When the heater is activated to vaporize the nicotine from the cartridge, the airflow passes through the generated vapor and combines with the vapor, and the combined airflow and generated vapor then flow out of the mouthpiece 35 for inhalation by the user. Except for single-use devices, the cartomizer 30 may be removed from the body 20 and disposed of (or replaced with another cartomizer, if desired) when the liquid supply is exhausted.

It will be appreciated that the e-cigarette 10 shown in FIG. 1 is presented by way of example, and various other implementations may be employed. For example, in some embodiments, the cartomizer 30 is provided as two separable components: a cartridge with a liquid reservoir and a mouthpiece (which can be replaced when the liquid from the reservoir is depleted), and a vaporizer with a heater (which is typically retained). As another example, the charging means may be connected to an additional or alternative power source, such as a car cigarette lighter.

2 is a schematic diagram of the body 20 of the e-cigarette 10 of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 can generally be considered to be a cross-section in a plane passing through the longitudinal axis LA of the e-cigarette 10. Note that various components and details of the body, such as wiring and more complex shapes, have been omitted from FIG. 2 for clarity.

The main body 20 includes a battery or cell 210 for powering the e-cigarette 10 in response to activation of the device by a user. In addition, the main body 20 includes a control unit (not shown in FIG. 2) for controlling the e-cigarette 10, such as a chip, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a microcontroller. The microcontroller or ASIC includes a CPU or microprocessor. The operation of the CPU and other electronic components is generally controlled at least in part by a software program running on the CPU (or other components). Such software programs may be stored in a non-volatile memory, such as a ROM, which may be incorporated into the microcontroller itself or may be provided as a separate component. The CPU can access the ROM to load and execute individual software programs as and when required. The microcontroller also includes appropriate communication interfaces (and control software) for communicating with other devices within the main body 10, where appropriate.

The body 20 further includes a cap 225 for sealing and protecting the distal end of the e-cigarette 10. Typically, an air inlet hole is provided in or adjacent to the cap 225 to allow air to flow into the body 20 when the user draws on the tip 35. The control unit or ASIC may be located along the battery 210 or at one end of the battery 210. In some embodiments, the ASIC is attached to a sensor unit 215 to detect a draw on the tip 35 (or alternatively, the ASIC itself may include a sensor unit 215). The e-cigarette is provided with an air path from the air inlet, through the airflow sensor 215 and the heater (in the vaporizer or cartomizer 30), to the tip 35. Thus, when the user draws on the tip of the e-cigarette, the CPU detects such a draw based on information from the airflow sensor 215.

At the end of the body 20 opposite the cap 225 is a connector 25B for joining the body 20 to the cartomizer 30. The connector 25B provides a mechanical and electrical connection between the body 20 and the cartomizer 30. The connector 25B includes a body connector 240, which is metal (silver plated in some embodiments) that serves as one terminal (positive or negative) for electrical connection to the cartomizer 30. The connector 25B further includes an electrical contact 250 that provides a second terminal for electrical connection to the cartomizer 30, of opposite polarity to the first terminal, i.e., the body connector 240. The electrical contact 250 is attached to a coil spring 255. When the body 20 is attached to the cartomizer 30, the connector 25A of the cartomizer 30 presses the electrical contact 250 to compress the coil spring in an axial direction, i.e., parallel to the longitudinal axis LA (in a direction consistent with the longitudinal axis LA). Considering the elasticity of the spring 255, this compression biases the spring 255 to expand, which has the effect of pressing the electrical contact 250 firmly against the connector 25A of the cartomizer 30, thereby helping to ensure a good electrical connection between the body 20 and the cartomizer 30. The body connector 240 and the electrical contact 250 are separated by a mount 260, which is made of a non-conductive material (such as plastic) to provide good insulation between the two electrical terminals. The mount 260 is shaped to aid in the mechanical engagement of the connectors 25A and 25B with each other.

As mentioned above, the button 265, which represents a form of manual activation device 265, can be located on the outer housing of the main body 20. The button 265 can be implemented using any suitable mechanism operable to be manually activated by a user, such as a mechanical button or switch, a capacitive or resistive touch sensor, etc. It will also be appreciated that the manual activation device 265 may be located on the outer housing of the cartomizer 30 rather than on the outer housing of the main body 20, in which case the manual activation device 265 may be attached to the ASIC by the connections 25A, 25B. The button 265 may also be located on the end of the main body 20 instead of (or in addition to) the cap 225.

3 is a schematic diagram of the cartomizer 30 of the e-cigarette 10 of FIG. 1 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 can be generally considered to be a cross-section in a plane passing through the longitudinal axis LA of the e-cigarette 10. Note that various components and details of the cartomizer 30, such as wiring and more complex shapes, have been omitted from FIG. 3 for clarity.

The cartomizer 30 includes an air passage 355 extending along a central axis (longitudinal axis) of the cartomizer 30 from the mouthpiece 35 to a connector 25A for joining the cartomizer 30 to the body 20. A reservoir 360 of liquid is provided around the air passage 335. The reservoir 360 can be implemented, for example, by providing cotton or foam soaked in the liquid. The cartomizer 30 also includes a heater 365 for heating liquid from the reservoir 360 to generate vapor to flow through the air passage 355 and out of the mouthpiece 35 in response to a user drawing on the e-cigarette 10. The heater 365 is powered through wires 366 and 367, which are connected to the opposite polarities (positive and negative, or vice versa) of the battery 210 of the main body 20 via connector 25A (details of the wiring between the power wires 366 and 367 and the connector 25A are omitted from FIG. 3).

Connector 25A includes an internal electrode 375, which may be silver plated or made from any other suitable metal or conductive material. When cartomizer 30 is connected to body 20, internal electrode 375 contacts electrical contact 250 of body 20 to provide a first electrical path between cartomizer 30 and body 20. In particular, when connectors 25A and 25B are engaged, internal electrode 375 presses against electrical contact 250 to compress coil spring 255, thereby helping to ensure good electrical contact between internal electrode 375 and electrical contact 250.

The internal electrode 375 is surrounded by an insulating ring 372, which may be made of plastic, rubber, silicone, or any other suitable material. The insulating ring is surrounded by a cartomizer connector 370, which may be silver plated or made of any other suitable metal or conductive material. When the cartomizer 30 is connected to the body 20, the cartomizer connector 370 contacts the body connector 240 of the body 20 to provide a second electrical path between the cartomizer 30 and the body 20. In other words, the internal electrode 375 and the cartomizer connector 370 function as positive and negative terminals (or vice versa) for supplying power from the battery 210 in the body 20 to the heater 365 in the cartomizer 30 via the supply lines 366 and 367, as appropriate.

The cartomizer connector 370 is provided with two projections or tabs 380A, 380B that extend in opposite directions away from the longitudinal axis of the e-cigarette 10. These tabs are used to provide a bayonet-style attachment with the body connector 240 to connect the cartomizer 30 to the body 20. This bayonet-style attachment provides a secure and robust connection between the cartomizer 30 and the body 20, such that the cartomizer and the body are held in a fixed position relative to each other with minimal wobble or flexing and very little chance of accidental separation. At the same time, the bayonet-style attachment provides simple and quick connection and disconnection by inserting and rotating to connect, and rotating (reverse direction) and pulling to disconnect. It will be appreciated that other embodiments may use different forms of connection between the body 20 and the cartomizer 30, such as a snap-fit or threaded connection.

4 is a schematic diagram of certain details of the connector 25B at the end of the body 20 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure (although for clarity of illustration, most of the internal structure of the connector shown in FIG. 2, such as the mount 260, is omitted). In particular, FIG. 4 shows the outer housing 201 of the body 20 having the form of a generally cylindrical tube. The outer housing 201 may comprise, for example, a metal inner tube covered on the outside with paper or the like. The outer housing 201 may also comprise a manual activation device 265 (not shown in FIG. 4) such that the manual activation device 265 is easily accessible to a user.

The body connector 240 extends from this outer housing 201 of the body 20. The body connector 240 shown in FIG. 4 comprises two main parts, a shaft portion 241 in the shape of a hollow cylindrical tube sized to fit snugly into the outer housing 201 of the body 20, and a lip portion 242 oriented radially outward, away from the main longitudinal axis (LA) of the e-cigarette. Where the shaft portion does not overlap with the outer housing 201, a collar or sleeve 290 surrounds the shaft portion 241 of the body connector 240, the collar 290 also being in the shape of a cylindrical tube. The collar 290 is held between the lip portion 242 of the body connector 240 and the outer housing 201 of the body, which together prevent axial (i.e., parallel to the axis LA) movement of the collar 290. However, the collar 290 is free to rotate about the shaft portion 241 (which is therefore also the axis LA).

As mentioned above, the cap 225 is provided with an air inlet hole to allow air to flow when the user draws on the mouthpiece 35. However, in some embodiments, the majority of the air that enters the device when the user draws flows through the collar 290 and the body connector 240, as shown by the two arrows in FIG. 4.

5, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, a system for providing a more responsive electronic vapor delivery system (EVPS) may comprise two components, such as an EVPS/e-cigarette 10 and a mobile phone or similar device (such as a tablet) 100 operable to communicate with the e-cigarette (e.g., to at least receive data from the e-cigarette), e.g., via Bluetooth. In this case, the phone provides broader data collection and processing capabilities to generate responsiveness, as described later in this specification.

However, while it is likely that two such components will be used, it will be understood that it is also contemplated that an EVPS/e-Cigarette with suitable communication and/or user interface capabilities may implement such a system itself.

In any event, a computing device is provided for use with the aerosol delivery system (e.g., by a remote device such as a mobile phone or server, or by suitable components within the EVPS itself) configured to generate an aerosol from the aerosol-generating material for inhalation by a user.

The computing device is configured to acquire a first data set, the first data set including data related to use of the aerosol delivery system. Typically, in the case of a separate device such as a mobile phone, this data is acquired from the EVPS, e.g., via Bluetooth or another wireless connection. However, optionally, some data may be acquired locally by the computing device, e.g., when the mobile phone acts as a user interface for the EVPS for certain functions or when deriving additional data from the first data set.

This first dataset may include various descriptors of the user's use of the EVPS. In some cases, the dataset may have already been generated for these purposes, or alternatively, some or all of the dataset may be generated specifically for use by the present technique. Optionally, only a subset of the generated dataset may be used by the present technique if not all of the descriptors used in the dataset are deemed relevant.

In a first example, the first data set may include data relating to the user's inhalation profile. The inhalation profile may be considered to be indicative of how the user inhales with the EVPS in terms of one or more of the following: overall duration, peak airflow, average airflow, overall volume of inhaled air, initial inhalation rate, and/or airflow envelope. It will be appreciated that the data may in fact use any suitable proxy for airflow, such as changes in pressure from a pressure sensor in the EVPS. Optionally, the computing device may generate a descriptor for the first data set from other data in the first data set, for example the airflow and overall inhalation duration, and the overall volume of air/vapor inhaled during inhalation may be calculated.

In this example, the first data set typically provides this information according to time, associating aspiration with a timestamp.

Optionally, the suction profiles in the first data set may be provided according to classifications such as short or long, deep or shallow, etc., rather than providing characteristic values under such classifications. Alternatively or additionally, the computing device may perform such classifications based on the first data set.

Optionally, in this example, the first data set may not include data for individual inhalations, but may instead provide average values for periods throughout the day, for example at 1 hour, 30 minute, 15 minute, 10 minute, or 5 minute intervals.

The aspiration profile data of the first data set may also be extended to characterize patterns of aspiration over time. In particular, the frequency of aspiration over time. Again, optionally, this may be provided over a period throughout the day, for example at 1 hour, 30 minute, 15 minute, 10 minute, or 5 minute intervals.

Similarly, the regularity of suction can be characterized based on, for example, the standard deviation from the average suction frequency at any given time, again optionally sampled within a given interval period.

In a second example, alternatively or additionally, the first data set may include data relating to the amount of aerosol inhaled. Optionally, this may relate to the potency strength of the active ingredient in the EVPS, which may be standardized at the time of manufacture, or may vary if the user is provided with a refill. In this case, the composition of the refill may be automatically detected by the EVPS based on any suitable identification technique, or may be obtained, for example, by a mobile phone scanning a QR code on the refill packaging to obtain the relevant information.

This information can be used to estimate the consumption of the active ingredient, either per inhalation or for a suitable time frame (such as any of the periods mentioned above), together with an individual average inhalation profile indicating, for example, the amount of air/vapour inhaled, the effective strength of the active ingredient.

Optionally, the data may also relate to physiological characteristics of the user, such as body weight and/or apparent maximum suction volume.

This information can be used to estimate the level of active ingredient in the user's body for a suitable time frame (such as any of the time periods described above).

More generally, the first data set can include any use of the EVPS related to the delivery of vapor to a user, and by extension, the delivery of the active ingredient of the vapor to a user. Thus, for example, dialing up or dialing down the temperature setting of the EVPS can be considered use, and adjustments can be made to the air intake or mouthpiece that change the effective airflow or vapor density. Similarly, swapping out payloads to change the effective strength of the active ingredient can also be considered use. Again, such activity can be associated with a timestamp or a period such as one of those described above.

On the other hand, merely fiddling with or playing with an EVPS, or holding an EVPS in the hand rather than in a bag, are indicative of a user's habits or behaviors rather than relating to the delivery of vapor to a user, and therefore do not relate to the use of an aerosol delivery system in the sense of using it to deliver vapor to a user.

However, it will nevertheless be appreciated that there may be a clear correlation between removing the EVPS from the bag, rather than simply holding it, or beginning to play with the EVPS, and later use of the EVPS in terms of aspiration. For example, if the EVPS was in the bag, this may indicate that the EVPS has not been used for some time, and thus removing the EVPS from the bag may indicate a desire to use the EVPS relatively more frequently than normal in the short term. On the other hand, playing with the EVPS rather than simply holding it may indicate agitation and may correlate to above average aspiration speed or depth. The actual correlation will vary from user to user and possibly from period to period.

Thus, data related to EVPS motion detection and/or touch detection is one example of all or part of a further data set that includes data associated with a user of the aerosol delivery system and is not related to actual use of the aerosol delivery system (in the sense of use to generate aerosol).

Thus, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the computing device is configured to acquire at least one such additional data set, the additional data set including data associated with a user of the aerosol delivery system that is not related to use of the aerosol delivery system.

As described below, such additional data sets may be diverse in nature and thus may be obtained in a variety of ways: some data sets may come from the EVPS, such as the motion and/or touch detection described above, while other data sets may come from other devices of the user, or from the computing device itself (e.g., a phone), or from external sources, for example via the Internet.
Such further data sets include
i. Data relating to the user's current physical condition;
The data may include data from one or more of at least three broad categories, provided as non-limiting examples: ii. data related to user-initiated conditions; and iii. data related to external conditions.

The first category may include data related to physiological aspects of the user, while the second and third categories do not. Typically, the use of such data sets requires or benefits from the user's informed consent, in part because if a user knows that a particular situation could contribute to improving their experience with the EVPS, the user is likely to be more willing to provide information about that situation to the computing device.

i. Data relating to the user's current physical state Examples of this data include behavioral data, such as the fidgeting example discussed above, and possibly other factors such as the user's facial expressions, tone of voice, or vocabulary (e.g., captured by the mobile phone or digital assistant, possibly during other uses such as during a phone call). Similarly, other interactions indicative of mood with the computing device itself or possibly other devices, including other devices in communication with the computing device, may be taken into account, such as fidgeting with a mobile phone or not interacting with a workstation's keyboard or mouse for a threshold period of time.

Other examples of this data include physiological data that may be obtained from a fitness tracker worn by the user, such as information regarding sleep cycles, e.g., the timing, duration, and/or quality of the previous night's sleep. Similarly, the user's recent and/or current heart rate may be captured, as well as step counts, impact (accelerometer) measurements, or other indicators of vigorous activity.

Any one or more of these data types may be provided in a further data set. Furthermore, multiple further data sets may be provided corresponding to different sources, such as movement tracking from the EVPS itself, user facial expressions/speech from a mobile phone, and sleep data/heart rate from a fitness wearable. These may be processed as separate further data sets or may be combined by the computing device into one further data set.

ii. Data related to user-attributed situations Examples of this data include user-initiated activities such as eating, commuting, work, exercise, etc. Activities such as work or exercise can be detected based on the user's location relative to a registered workplace or gym. Commuting can be detected based on the user's movements and, optionally, the user's location (e.g., distinguishing between road and rail travel). This information can be determined from a combination of GPS data from the mobile phone and/or the EVPS itself, and optionally additional data, such data being publicly available in the case of road and rail locations, or privately available in the case of personal information registered by the user, for example, as part of an online account associated with managing his or her EVPS.

Similarly, social and other engagements may be determined by referencing the calendar on the user's phone.

Again, it will be appreciated that a correlation may exist between use of the EVPS and data relating to user-attributable situations such as exercising, commuting, or attending a party.

iii. Data related to external circumstances Examples of this data include broader environmental influences on the user's mood or activity that are not directly (or deliberately) generated/arranged by the user himself. As an example of an environmental condition, a possible influence on the user is the current and/or near future local weather. Other factors may include, for example, sports results or news headlines in media consumed by the user (e.g., based on a news feed observed by the user on a social media portal). Other factors that may affect the user's mood and behavior include the user's current bank balance and/or spending level, how recently the user has been called by friends or family, the user's relationship status, etc.

Such external data may be collated by the mobile phone, for example weather data may be obtained from any suitable online source and/or any suitable weather service app on the phone. Similarly sports and news and other social media influences may be obtained from any suitable online source and/or any suitable social media app on the phone. Similarly banking data or general liquidity assessments may be obtained with user permission from a suitable app or provided by the user via a user interface, for example on a weekly basis. Relationship status may be obtained via social media and call logs, SMS messages etc. may be analysed with user permission with regard to interpersonal status.

Again, it will be appreciated that a correlation may exist between EVPS use and such external circumstances. For example, heavy rain may significantly reduce a user's tendency to use an EVPS, while sunlight may significantly increase it. On the other hand, bad news, for example, may have a slight correlation with deeper or more frequent inhalations by the user due to a corresponding slight increase in stress.

There may be other data sources that span these classifications or represent other broad categories, or may be considered outside these categories altogether.

For example, user-attributable conditions may include going to the doctor or not going to the gym at the scheduled/habitual time. These may suggest that the user is unwell and thus are also indirect indicators of the user's physiological state.

On the other hand, the time of day or day of the week are optionally not considered to be further data sets. Obviously, the time of day or day of the week may be used when establishing a correlation between EVPS use and situational characteristics identifiable from one or more further data sets, but the current time of day and day of the week may themselves be excluded from consideration as further data sets. Nevertheless, the time of day and day of the week may be used in parallel with the present invention as part of a separate mechanism for establishing a user's habitual usage patterns, and these separate approaches may be combined, for example, by weighting the contribution of usage estimates from these and potentially other techniques to determine an overall response.

As previously mentioned, multiple additional data sets may also be provided within any one or more of these broad categories.

It will be appreciated that some data (e.g., related to the user's physiology, preferences, or activities, such as place of work) may need to be explicitly provided by the user if not already available (e.g., the user's physiological data may be available from a partnered fitness app, but the user's place of work may be inferred from the user's location during work hours during the weekday). Thus, optionally, the user may be provided with a means to input this data into the system, for example, by interacting with a website hosted by a service provider (e.g., the manufacturer or a trusted third party) associated with the EVPS that allows the user to open and maintain an account. The account associates this data with the user and his or her EVPS and thus its usage data. The data may include directly entered information and/or permissions to access other information (such as social media, phone calendar, or data from the fitness device). Some such permissions may also be obtained when installing the app on the user's phone.

As also mentioned above, for each of these three broad categories, the actual correlations will vary from user to user and possibly from time to time.

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the computing device is configured to identify a correspondence between the uses in the first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of the further dataset (or multiple further datasets).

Examples of such correspondences have already been described herein above. It will be appreciated that some situational features are localized in time or space, typically corresponding to events such as going to the gym, while some other situational features are more likely to be like continuous variables, examples include the current weather or the user's heart rate. Still other features may be a combination of the two, with sparse samples being used to inform ongoing indications of the user's state, such as occasional opportunities to analyze the user's facial expressions or language choices while communicating via telephone, which may occur sporadically.

The correspondence itself may take any suitable form or forms and may vary depending on the nature of the features and associated data derived from the further dataset. Thus, in the case of a temporally or spatially localized situation, the correlation with use may depend on the proximity to the localized event (in other words, the identified correspondence between the use in the first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of the further dataset may be a temporal correspondence). On the other hand, in the case of a continuous variable, the correlation with use may depend on the value of the variable (in other words, the identified correspondence between the use in the first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of the further dataset may be a correspondence between values and/or states).

It is also possible to consider cross-correlations with multiple features, so for example, for a particular user, there may be a relatively low correlation between high heart rate and increased use, except during the commute (which may indicate that the user is stressed after work and may have a particularly strong correlation to deep or frequent puffs).

Similarly, when multiple situation features and/or situation features are present, their respective correlations with user behavior may be obtained, optionally. In some situations or combinations of situations, they may reinforce each other for a common outcome, while in other situations or combinations of situations, they may weaken or cancel each other out, so that the use indicated by any one situation does not necessarily correspond to the set of uses indicated by combining all such indicated uses. In this case, the system may select the use of the set as the basis for modifying the operation of the EVPS, or may not implement any modification due to conflicting outcomes, or may select only a subset of the features according to a predefined priority, optionally reducing the subset, until a common use indication or a deviation of the use indication below a threshold is achieved.

These correlations can be identified by any suitable technique known in the art.

For some events that are relatively rare within an individual user's life span, such as illness or changes in relationship status, correlations identified based on data from a corpus of a statistically significant number of users may optionally be provided to bootstrap or seed the correlation for the individual user. In this case, the corpus used to derive the correlation may be selected to be of a similar type to the individual user (e.g., based on age, gender, and/or any other socio-economic indicators believed to be relevant to a particular correlation).

Similarly, individual features may be combined into groups or types to provide more data and thereby identify correspondences with uses in the first dataset based on feature type. In some cases, these may be simplified to avoid unnecessary granularity of the same basic features, e.g. a weather app may identify drizzle, light rain, and heavy rain, but these may be combined into a single type (i.e. "rain" or "bad weather"). Alternatively or additionally, features may be combined into meta-feature types, so that bad weather, bad sports results, or arriving/leaving work 20 minutes later than usual are all identified as a "bad day" feature type. In this case, each may contribute, optionally after suitable weighting, to the value of the "bad day" feature variable.

More generally, features can be identified as being of a positive or negative type and can contribute to an overall good/bad measure, for which a correlation can be established with their use in the first dataset.

It will be appreciated that the same feature may contribute to different levels of types, so that "heavy rain" may have a clear correlation with usage in itself, but may also contribute to a more general "bad day" feature type, which may (or may not) correlate with a user's depressed mood for some time after the rain stops, thus altering the usage behavior of a user of the EVPS.

In any case, after calculating a correlation between a first dataset of aerosol delivery system usage history (where history simply means usage that has occurred in the past under any suitable time frame, such as at least one of the last hours, days, weeks, or any period sustainable by the data storage resources allocated by the computing device designer, and/or usage associated with each previous event/situation of a particular type, optionally independent of the length of time in the past) and one or more characteristics of one or more situations identifiable within the data of one or more further datasets unrelated to the use of the aerosol delivery system to generate aerosol/vapor, the computing device is ready to operate.

Accordingly, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, in response to a situation having characteristics similar to the respective characteristic characteristics in the further data set, the computing device is operable to adjust one or more operating parameters of the aerosol delivery system responsive to a corresponding use of the aerosol delivery system represented in the first data set.

As noted above, various correspondences/correlations can be established between use of the EVPS and characteristics of situations within that or each further dataset (e.g., to characteristics of situations in any one or more of the various broad categories of situations described herein above).

As a result, current data for at least a subset of the features used to establish the correspondence/correlation may be used to anticipate/predict current usage by the user.

Thus, if a correlation has previously been established between deeper or more frequent puffs and EVPS toying, then motion data indicating that the EVPS is currently being toyed with may be highly correlated with an increased desire for vapor.

Similarly, if a correlation between less frequent suctions and rainy weather has been previously established, weather data indicating heavy rain may be highly correlated with a reduced demand for steam.

It will be appreciated that at any given moment, not all features used to establish correspondence/correlation may have a current value accessible to the computing device; for example, the user's current facial expression may not be available if the user's phone is in his pocket, and the latest news headlines or weather forecast may not be available if the user's phone is out of range of data. On the other hand, some features, such as relationship status, may be assumed to persist until later updated, and thus there is no need to frequently check the current status. Furthermore, in such cases, the relevant feature may be the change in the status, rather than the current value of the status itself.

Thus, not all features with known correspondence/correlation may be used when predicting likely uses. Similarly, as previously described herein, even if current values for features are currently known, optionally not all features may be used to contribute to predicting likely uses, or features or feature values with little or no correlation may be discarded permanently or for the current prediction.

Thus, the computing device uses one or more features of the current situation (or a number of current situations, or a prioritized subset thereof selected according to a predefined priority) to identify a correlation between the or each feature and one or more aspects of the use of the EVPS.

The strength of the or each correlation with one or more aspects of the EVPS's use can be used to predict such aspects of use and determine the extent to which the EVPS should be adjusted. Such adjustments may follow a linear or non-linear scale responsive to the strength of the correlation, such that the adjustments are on or off or take one of multiple forms/degrees, or may be classified according to a binary classification (e.g., state 0, 1) or a multi-state classification (e.g., states 0, 1, 2, 3) depending on the strength of the correlation. The specific nature of the adjustment may be selected depending on which aspect of the EVPS is being adjusted.

The adjustment may take any suitable form. As previously mentioned, the amount of vapor/aerosol, and therefore active ingredient, produced by an EVPS is typically a function of the temperature of the heater used to vaporize the payload. Thus, as a first example, if increased use is indicated, the effective temperature of the heater may be increased by increasing the temperature and/or modifying the heater duty cycle. Similarly, if decreased use is indicated, the effective temperature of the heater may be decreased by decreasing the temperature and/or modifying the heater duty cycle. In either case, the delivery of active ingredient by the device will be more in line with the inferred user desires based on the user's historical usage patterns prior to the currently detected situation.

Similarly, the rate of delivery of the payload to the heater/atomizer may be adjustable for similar purposes. This may be done based on reducing wick inhibition, adjusting valves, etc.

Similarly, if more frequent use is indicated, optionally after inhalation the heater temperature may be reduced to a level below the vaporization temperature, but not turned off completely, so that the device is more responsive during periods of rapid inhalation. Such options may be subject to a threshold frequency below which the technique will no longer be used.

Similarly, if a short, sharp draw is indicated as being likely (e.g., a stressful situation), the vapor delivery profile may attempt to deliver vapor as quickly as possible after activation by increasing the temperature of the heater above normal operating temperatures for a predetermined period of time. This predetermined period of time may be based on the draw profile, etc., and/or may be responsive to detected peak airflow during a draw.

Conversely, if a slow, deep draw is indicated as being more likely, the vapor delivery profile may be more uniform. If the system is aware of the nature of the payload, such as in this example, if the payload is strongly scented, the device may provide an increase in vapor towards the end of the draw to increase the perceived aroma.

In addition to direct adjustments to the operating parameters of the steam generation process, indirect adjustments can be made if the steam generation process is already subject to other controls. Thus, for example, if a user has set a maximum usage allowance for the day, this maximum usage allowance may be increased in response to characteristics of the situation indicating previous heavy usage.

Similarly, if a user has been following a nicotine reduction program for several weeks or months, in response to situational characteristics indicative of prior heavy use, the nicotine reduction program may be suspended for that day (e.g., no reduction in nicotine delivery per puff or per period, or no reduction in overall allowance). Conversely, if situational characteristics indicate historically lighter than average use, the nicotine reduction program may optionally be skipped for a day, or equivalently, further reduction beyond the default daily increment may be implemented.

In such cases, the operating parameters are therefore adjusted with a predefined variance for the corresponding use (i.e., modifying the separately imposed usage regime).

Operating parameters need not be limited to the direct or indirect generation of vapor itself. For example, if the EVPS has haptic feedback or other user interface elements, these may be adjusted accordingly. For example, if use in response to a detected situational feature indicates stress, the haptic feedback may be reduced and/or other interface elements may be modified, such as lowering the volume or changing the type of notification sound (e.g., the sound used to indicate the need to change the reservoir). Similarly, the threshold for notifying the user that the payload reservoir is low may be increased so that the notification occurs sooner, thereby reducing the likelihood that the user will be unable to use the EVPS during a stressful situation. Similar principles may also be applied to battery life. More generally, the content and/or frequency of user interface interactions initiated by the device may be altered (e.g., to reduce or increase the number of status notifications or reminders).

The above embodiment assumes that the data regarding usage for the first dataset is for an individual user and may be correlated with usage, and that the data regarding factors other than usage contained in the further dataset is similarly user-related, but optionally, alternatively or additionally, these can be provided as generic data and built into, for example, the EVPS or phone, for example to bootstrap the system with an expected generic response (or simply to provide that response without any subsequent personalization to the user).

Thus, a composite data set provided at the time of manufacture or downloadable as part of an app can provide, for example, a first data set and a second data set, which defines a generic correlation between non-usage events and usage values, and thus shows, for example, a correlation between bad weather and a corresponding reduction in consumption. In this way, an EVPS or a phone working with an EVPS can have a number of such conditions loaded or preloaded and retrieve the conditions and identify correlations from this data set. In this case, the generation of personalized usage data, non-usage data, and correlations between the two may or may not be performed over time and usage, relying solely on the loaded or preloaded generic data set.

The system can then compare the current situation to existing scenarios to identify suitable adjustments to one or more operating parameters, which again can be defined by a composite data set.

Other modifications to the EVPS itself and/or optionally to a mobile telephone, particularly when used as a user interface or extensions thereto, will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0033] Referring now to FIG. 6, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided an aerosol delivery method for use with an aerosol delivery system configured to generate an aerosol from an aerosol-generating material for inhalation by a user, the method comprising:
In a first step s610, a first data set including data related to use of the aerosol delivery system is obtained;
In a second step s620, obtaining a further data set associated with a user of the aerosol delivery system, the data set including data unrelated to use of the aerosol delivery system;
In a third step s630, identifying a correspondence between the usage in the first data set and one or more respective characteristic features of the further data set;
In response to a situation having characteristics similar to the respective characteristic characteristics in the further data set, a fourth step s640 includes adjusting one or more operating parameters of the aerosol delivery system responsive to a corresponding use of the aerosol delivery system shown in the first data set.

It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that variations of the above method are contemplated that correspond to the operation of various embodiments of the methods and/or apparatus described and claimed herein within the scope of this disclosure, including, but not limited to, the following:

The step of acquiring the further data set includes acquiring a plurality of further data sets, and the step of identifying the correspondence includes identifying a correspondence between the usage in the first data set and one or more respective characteristic features of the further data sets.

The step of identifying the correspondence comprises identifying a correspondence between a use in the first dataset and one or more respective types of features in the or each further dataset.

The further data set relates to one selected from the list consisting of environmental conditions and user interactions with the website.

The or each further data set is not related to physiological aspects of the user.

The first data set relates to one or more selected from the list consisting of the user's inhalation profile and the amount of aerosol inhaled.

The identified correspondence between the use in the first data set and one or more respective characteristic features of the further data set is a temporal correspondence.

Operating parameters are adjusted in anticipation of the corresponding use or with a predetermined variance to the corresponding use.

It will be appreciated that the above methods may be implemented with conventional hardware (such as that previously described herein) suitably configured with software instructions, where applicable, or through the inclusion or substitution of dedicated hardware.

Thus, what is required to adapt existing parts of a conventional equivalent device may be embodied in the form of a computer program product including processor-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium, such as a floppy disk, optical disk, hard disk, solid-state disk, PROM, RAM, flash memory, or any combination of these or other storage media, or may be realized in hardware as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or other configurable circuit suitable for use in adapting a conventional equivalent device. Alternatively, such a computer program may be transmitted via a data signal over a network, such as an Ethernet, a wireless network, the Internet, or any combination of these or other networks.

1, as previously described herein, an EVPS may be a self-contained unit (commonly referred to as an e-cigarette, even though the device itself does not necessarily conform to the shape or dimensions of a conventional cigarette). Such an e-cigarette may comprise airflow measurement means, processing means, and optionally one or more feedback means, such as tactile, audio, and/or light/display means.

Instead, and referring to FIG. 5, and again as previously described, the EVPS may comprise two components, such as an e-cigarette 10 and a mobile phone or similar device (such as a tablet) 100 operable to communicate with the e-cigarette (e.g., to receive at least data from the e-cigarette), e.g., via Bluetooth®.

The mobile phone may then be equipped with processing means and one or more feedback means, such as haptic, audio and/or light/display means, instead of or in addition to those of the e-cigarette.

Optionally, the EVPS may comprise an e-cigarette 10 operable to communicate with a mobile phone 100, which stores one or more parameters or other data for the EVPS (such as data characteristic of one or more aspects of use by a user) and receives such parameters/data from the e-cigarette. The phone may then optionally perform processing on such parameters/data, return processed data and/or instructions to the EVPS, display the results to the user (or perform another action), or forward the processed and/or unprocessed parameters/data to a remote server.

Optionally, the mobile phone or the EVPS itself may be operable to wirelessly access data associated with the user's account on such a remote server.

In another variant embodiment of the present disclosure, a first EVPS of a user can communicate some or all of its user settings to another EVPS. The user settings can include settings related to the implementation of the methods disclosed above, such as data characteristic of user behavior and/or data related to modifying EVPS operation.

Such data may be relayed directly between the devices (e.g., via Bluetooth or near-field communication) or through one or more intermediary devices, such as mobile phones owned by the users of the two devices or servers for which the users have accounts.

In this way, for example, if a user has two EVPS devices, or if the user wants to exchange one EVPS for another EVPS without losing stored personalization data, the user can easily share data from one device to another.

Optionally, in this embodiment, if the second EVPS is of a different type than the first EVPS (e.g., by having a different default power level or heating efficiency), a conversion factor or lookup table may be used to convert the operating parameters from the first EVPS to the second EVPS. This may be provided in the software or firmware of the second EVPS, which when communicating directly (or when data is relayed unchanged through an intermediary such as a telephone), identifies the first EVPS and thus the appropriate conversion. Alternatively or additionally, the conversion may be provided by an app on the phone, which may optionally download the relevant conversion in response to the identification of the first and second EVPS. Again, alternatively or additionally, a remote server may provide the conversion in response to the identification of the first and second EVPS associated with the user's account.

The above discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the present disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative, not limiting, of the scope of the present disclosure and other claims. The disclosure defines in part the scope of the above claim terminology, including any readily discernible variations of the teachings herein, so that the subject matter of the present invention is not dedicated to the public.

Claims (20)

1. A computing device for use with an aerosol delivery system configured to generate an aerosol from an aerosol-generating material for inhalation by a user, the computing device comprising:
acquiring a first data set comprising data relating to one or more aspects of a use of the aerosol delivery system;
obtaining a further data set associated with the user of the aerosol delivery system, the data set including data unrelated to use of the aerosol delivery system;
identifying a correspondence between one or more of said aspects of use in said first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of said further dataset;
A computing device configured to adjust one or more operating parameters of the aerosol delivery system in response to a situation having characteristics similar to each characteristic characteristic in the further dataset, the operating parameters being responsive to the aspect of use of the aerosol delivery system indicated in the first dataset corresponding to the each characteristic characteristic in the further dataset. the computing device comprising:
acquiring a plurality of additional data sets associated with the user of the aerosol delivery system that are not related to use of the aerosol delivery system;
identifying a correspondence between one or more of said aspects of use in said first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of said further dataset;
The computing device of claim 1, configured to adjust the operating parameters of the aerosol delivery system in response to a situation having characteristics similar to a respective characteristic characteristic in at least one further dataset, the operating parameters of the aerosol delivery system in response to the aspect of use of the aerosol delivery system indicated in the first dataset corresponding to the respective characteristic characteristic in the at least one further dataset. the computing device comprising:
identifying a correspondence between uses in the first dataset and one or more respective types of features of the or each further dataset;
A computing device as described in claim 1 or 2, configured to adjust the operating parameters of the aerosol delivery system responsive to a corresponding type of event in the first dataset in response to a situation having the respective type of characteristics identified in at least one further dataset. Further data sets are
A computing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the computing device is related to one selected from the list consisting of: i. environmental conditions, and ii. user interaction with a website. The computing device of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the or each further data set is not related to a physiological aspect of the user. The first data set comprises:
The computing device of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the computing device is adapted to detect one or more of the following: i. an inhalation profile of the user; and ii. The computing device of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the identified correspondence between the usage in the first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of the further dataset is a temporal correspondence. The computing device of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein operating parameters are adjusted in anticipation of the manner of use of the aerosol delivery system indicated in the first data set. The computing device of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the operating parameters are adjusted with a predetermined variance for the mode of use of the aerosol delivery system indicated in the first data set. A system comprising a computing device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, the functionality of which is:
i. a mobile telephone operable to communicate with the electronic vapor delivery system;
ii. an electronic vapor delivery system; and iii. a server operable to communicate with one or more of the electronic vapor delivery system and a mobile phone operable to communicate with the electronic vapor delivery system. 1. An aerosol delivery method for use with an aerosol delivery system configured to generate an aerosol from an aerosol-generating material for inhalation by a user, comprising:
acquiring a first data set comprising data relating to one or more aspects of a use of the aerosol delivery system;
obtaining a further data set associated with the user of the aerosol delivery system, the further data set including data unrelated to one or more of the aspects of use of the aerosol delivery system;
identifying a correspondence between usages in the first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of the further dataset;
and in response to a situation having characteristics similar to each characteristic characteristic in the further dataset, adjusting one or more operating parameters of the aerosol delivery system in response to the corresponding aspect of use of the aerosol delivery system indicated in the first dataset corresponding to the each characteristic characteristic in the further dataset. said step of acquiring a further data set comprises acquiring a plurality of further data sets;
wherein the step of identifying a correspondence comprises identifying a correspondence between one or more of the aspects of use in the first dataset and one or more respective characteristic features of the further dataset.
12. The aerosol delivery method of claim 11. wherein the step of identifying a correspondence comprises identifying a correspondence between a use in the first dataset and one or more respective types of features of the or each further dataset.
13. The aerosol delivery method of claim 11 or 12. Further data sets are
related to one selected from the list consisting of: i. environmental conditions; and ii. user interaction with the website;
The aerosol delivery method according to any one of claims 11 to 13. the or each further data set is not related to a physiological aspect of the user;
The aerosol delivery method according to any one of claims 11 to 14. The first data set comprises:
16. The aerosol delivery method of any one of claims 11 to 15, which is related to one or more selected from the list consisting of: i. the inhalation profile of the user, and ii. the amount of aerosol inhaled. The aerosol delivery method according to any one of claims 11 to 16, wherein the identified correspondence between the use in the first data set and one or more respective characteristic features of the further data set is a temporal correspondence. The aerosol delivery method of any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein operating parameters are adjusted in anticipation of the manner of use of the aerosol delivery system as indicated in the first data set. The aerosol delivery method of any one of claims 11 to 17, wherein an operating parameter is adjusted with a predetermined variance for the mode of use of the aerosol delivery system indicated in the first data set. A computer program comprising computer-executable instructions configured to cause a computer system to carry out the method according to any one of claims 11 to 19.

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